Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-11-03
collins had destroyed every bit of his

| me llIt lne DOuy out il we are gong 10
destroy the evidence of our night
work." and lifted the lid had been
busy christening when Bony made his
bolt for the door.
II cant do it, DOCTOR" Bony said,
in so timorous voice as to surprise
me. II can't look on that gals face
again, nohow. l saw 1t this morning,
an felt queer all day. till the boss
riled me about that Myers coffin. l
can't touch her again, nohow; ! can't,
| tell you, nohow!" And Bony's pite-
Gus wall of "can't-nohow." died away
in the distance as he closed the door
| behind him and was gone.
There was sense of sorrowful I'M
petuosty left as the echo of his reced-
ing voice, as if drawing himself unwill-
ingly away from some attractive spell
that might prove fatal if he STAYED. L
had lifted the lid and stood looking at
the dead face until that faint sense of
Bony's piteous "nohow!" was succeed
cd by n silence so deep as seemed to
break my reveric. ~
turned away, but an irresistible i'm
pulse drew me to the face again. There
was not vestige of disease or emacia-
ton, there was not the sunkGn eye, nor
the grim pallor of death, but Il marvel
only pleading expression, as if to say:
"Why have you disturbed my sleep?"
1t might be only Bony's timorouS
voice still ringing in my ears that
made the dead face look so beseeching,
but could not break is spell. Turn
from it with what determination |
would, some inef1able fascination drew
me back again. even from my window
whore | had gone TO catch the first
faint glimmerjngs of the dawn, rs if
their coming would release me from
my strange situat on.
Involmtar ly had moved the coffin
lid and looked upon the dclicately
chisclIcd hands and the small and
shapely feet. Her clothing was of the
surely for disguise and not of necessity.
BOny's queer feeling | understood
now, and every timo my eyes pcrforce,
sought hor face. 1t was the power of
beauty to touch human sympathies.
What home had she deserted? How
far had she fallen? 1t had been bit
of my Impractical philosophy that we
men were too cXaCting Of the other
sex; that we had no right to ask more
than II fair balance OF virtues. And
here | was, i'll sympathy. putting that
bit of philosophy in practice. / was
allowing myself to ply, even to be in
tercsted in an evident Outcast. But
why notP She was deal. And when |
had freely pjticd and admired, l could
give her back to dust again, or to
friends who might show more charity
to the dead body than they had TO the
living soul.
As | looked again there was shade
Of color in the face. The d scovcrv
startled me; the gaze again fascinated
me. My hand instincttively sought
that of the dead. 1t was not dead.
There was mobility and warmth in it.
Or was it fancy with me, growing out
of the warm atmosphere of nv con
sultatiOn room? Was it my own fevered
mag nation? But the color was still
rising in the checks. | was down upon
my knees chatting the hands. In dnzed
half consciousness | rudely tore away
the covering from the throat. removed
the tightly laced shoes and rubbed the
soft, delicate feet. When | looked aga
there was 4 perceptible tremor of the
eyclds, and the large, lustrous eyes
lost something of their fixed stare,
they turned little; my subject was
ulivci
With the knowledge that she lived
came Il more intelligent control of my
own sense. | set to work and prepared
Il stimulating draught. and then. rails
ing her in her coffin, | applied it to her
lips. There was Il CLEAN of returning
consciousness Il glance at her sur
rOundings, at the coffin in which SD
sat, and then she swooned again.
| laid her back upon the pillow of
wood shavings that was part of the
furnishing of u pauper coffin and deli
berated ms TO what | should do next.
The morning light was now stream
ing in through the window and soon all
the world might know what the night
had hidden. The newsbov on his early
round at that moment dropped the
morning paper from the not distant
city Oh the doorstep. and instinctivcly
| went TO get that wonderful epitome
of the last days doing and learn if it
had got any clue to the history of the
strange woman who had died ut the
hotel.
Yes. there it was. The case that the
perfunctory coroner and hs 'questors
had passed over so indflercntly, the
newspaper corps had traced in all the
warp and wool of this complicated hui
man existence. 1t was not quite the
old, old story. 1t was love without the
shame; it was strong. pass Onate love
without reciprocation. dcsparring
desperate love that thinks it can only
60 out through death.
Filled now with both interest and
pity; pity for the grief-stricken parents,
and interest in the unhappy daughter,
| returned to the work of restoring the
unconscious girl, and soon accomplish
cd it.
How judciously managed to make
known to child and parents the partic-
ulars which hal led up to the peculiar
situation in which we found ourselves.
In what kindly light they viewed my
midnight prank with Bony. How
they forgave their darling child and
guarded my reputation may all be inn
agined when say that am now one
OF the family, and that although have
never worked up much OF practice in
W--or any where else, the fact has